Dave Walker of CartoonChurch fame has on several occasions reported on the saga of the former SPCK bookshops, subsequently owned by SSG.
Today he has removed all his blog entries on the subject after receiving a ‘cease and desist’ notice from the owner Mark Brewer. He writes:
I have therefore removed all of the SPCK/SSG posts on this blog, as, although I believe I have not done anything wrong I do not have the money to face a legal battle. The removal of these posts is in no way an admission of guilt.
Read all about it at Cartoon Church. [This post has also now been removed from Dave’s blog.]
Update
Matt Wardman has posted an article about this, see Lambeth Conference Cartoonist in Residence threatened with Legal Action over blog
Wednesday morning update
Bishop Alan Wilson has posted this: SPCK Bookshops — Gags & Gimcrack.
Wednesday midday update
Matt Wardman again with a roundup of other links: My Name is Dave Walker: People posting about Mark Brewer’s Cease and Desist Notice.
The behaviour of Christian bodies and organizations (and Churches) is more and more convicing me of the truth of Christianity — Not.
Well done Treebeard, another example of the heresy of the unpleasant bus driver.
As for Dave, I think it is another example of the high-handed and destructive behaviour of… well whom?
Is there a UK media lawyer in TA’s readership who fancies some well-deserved pro bono work?
I’ve added my observations about this misuse of the libel laws.
Given that they are very likely to go belly-up before too long, I am sure that they will be able to return to pride of place before too long
I’ve no idea what you’re talking about. Do you ?The non-witness of all these corporate ‘Christian bodies’ is turning more and more of us away from your versions of Churchianity.
I wouldnt use a disreputable or unreliable or unsafe bus company or restaurant either.
‘Well done Treebeard, another example of the heresy of the unpleasant bus driver.’
Posted by: 3MinuteTheologian (Justin Lewis-Anthony) on Tuesday, 22 July 2008
I was standing this morning scanning the NT commentaries and other secondary works on the NT in the Durham SPCK (inside the Cathedral) when I fell into conversation with a fellow Irishman, who observed – knowing nothing of SPCK’s recent travails – that it all seemed a bit ‘thinner’ than it used to. It does, and this is very serious. Less and less knowledge – more and more ignorance.
What Mark Brewer/SSG have not bargained with is that all the “removed posts” are readily available on Google over which David Walker has no control – so people interested in free speech and the future of SPCK and Christian bookshops in the UK should make them widely known see this link for details:
http://theconnexion.net/wp/?p=3815. One presumes that the threat of legal action is not going to concern Google too much!
I think Dave Walker has done the Christian community a great service as this story has developed, and I am not going to stop saying so.
Sued for telling the truth? SSG makes a fool of law by abusing it. The truth will out. Remembering how subversive the ‘Fake Steve Jobs’ blog was when cloaked with anonymity, it’ll only be a matter of time before some holy geek pieces together saved pages containing the deleted posts into a hard-to-trace ‘Not-Dave-Walker blog’ – followed by several more ‘fakes’ distributed across cyber space. They can’t sue the whole internet can they?
Temporary hurrah for the Google cache: http://www.google.co.uk/search?&q=site:www.cartoonchurch.com/blog+spck
So the entry you linked to on Dave’s Cartoon Blog has been removed and comments are closed to all entries.
This sucks!
[Expert Googlers: could you direct me to the cache for Dave’s removed post on the subject?]
I know that your Vindicator liveth, Dave: hang in there!
What a mess! I am told that, during the Raj, it was common for individuals in India to have printed on their cards “B.A. Oxford, failed” for it was better to have been admitted to Oxford and failed than not even to have tried. Personally, I would prefer such a line over the claim trumpted on Mark Brewer’s website that he has a degree from Oral Roberts University. Yup, about as dodgy an academic claim as one can make. Oh, yes, he also claims as one of his specialties employment law. I suppose, from the comments of ex-staffers, that this… Read more »
I’m very pleased they have gone bankrupt..as I visited the former book store in Chester and it was full of “Orthodox “books condemning the Papal claims and the Catholic Church. One was written by an ex -Southern baptist convert to Orthodoxy!
The heads that should roll are those in SPCK who sold the shops.
SSG may not be going bankrupt as efforts are underway to get the case thrown out under US law. More details to follow.
JCF
Mad Priest has the text on his blog
http://revjph.blogspot.com/
All Dave has done is report what the Brewers want to hide… their motives, their incompetence etc. etc. unfortunately their cowardly use of a “cease and desist” notice is using Dave’s inability to fund a legal battle he would undoubtedly win to enable them to censor the truth. Disgraceful!
This blog has a complete list of google cache links: http://voiceofiyov.blogspot.com/
Note that google cache is not permenant. This information may be available for as little as 3 days, depending on a variety of factors which I chose not to elucidate. So if you want it to be preserved for posterity, download the pages and archive them.
When persuasion fails, there’s always force.
More evidence that the “orthodox” are no friends to wage earners or to freedom of speech.
Christianity in action on the ground !
Dreadful behaviour.
Note: I’ve just updated the Dave Walker post list – there are now 27 and some more to come later.
http://www.tinyurl.com/davewalker
Facebook Group:
http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=40107747008
Friendfeed (keep you up date a combined feed)
http://friendfeed.com/rooms/dave-walker-spck
A minor point in their attack on free speech rights that the SSG is attempting, but re
“”Orthodox” books condemning the Papal claims”
And the problem with that would be? I could write similar condemnations, and be at least as *orthodox* as… well, as YOU are, RIW. ;-/
All Dave’s original posts have been reposted here: http://opendebatenotlibelthreats.blogspot.com/